Which two teams will face off inside Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis for the 2026 Emirates NBA Cup?
This summer, the league unveiled the full group stage schedule for this year's in-season tournament, with action taking place every Friday from Oct. 30 to Nov. 27 and on special Cup nights during Thanksgiving week (Nov. 24-25).
After the New York Knicks became the first team to win the NBA Cup and Finals in the same season, can Jalen Brunson & Co. keep their championship run going? They'll have plenty of competition, specifically within the star-studded East Group B.
Here's what you need to know about the in-season tournament, now in its fourth year.
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Schedule | Groups | FAQ
Warriors 112, Lakers 95
After leading the Warriors by 34 points through three quarters on opening night and by 23 after the first quarter Friday, the Lakers looked ready to coast to their fifth win in six games this season.
So how did Golden State end up winning 112-95? Luka Doncic poured in 21 points in the opening frame, his 10th quarter scoring at least 20 points since joining the Lakers -- tied with Kobe Bryant for the most by any Laker since 2000. And the Lakers' defense seemingly carried over whatever it found when it put the clamps on the LA Clippers in Wednesday's win by limiting Golden State to 15 points on 5-for-22 shooting in the first 12 minutes.
Two of those five makes came from Stephen Curry, however. And he kept hitting shots as the game went on. Three more makes in the second quarter, three more in the third and another three in the fourth to finish with 31 points on 11-for-23 shooting.
Meanwhile, Doncic slowed down. After shooting 7 for 12 in the first quarter, he went 5-for-15 the rest of the way. By the end of the night, Curry moved past Dominique Wilkins for No. 18 on the NBA's all-time scoring list, and the highlights dried up for the Lakers, particularly when coach JJ Redick went to his bench.
Golden State's reserves outscored Los Angeles' second unit by a staggering 47-7.
Just more than a week since the Lakers and Warriors started the season headed in opposite directions, the gap between the two teams is tougher to discern. Golden State has won three straight, and Jimmy Butler is working to come back from a torn ACL by midseason. The Lakers have lost two out of three despite most of their core being available, except for youngsters Ziaire Williams, Adou Thiero and Cameron Carr.
Friday showed that a game can drastically change from one quarter to the next, just as a team's season can flip from one week to the next. -- Dave McMenamin
76ers 98, Knicks 93
Philadelphia was up by eight early in the second quarter of their eventual 98-93 win in Friday's NBA Cup opener against New York when Sixers rookie guard Labaron Philon Jr. received a pass from Tyrese Maxey and advanced the ball past half court.
Philon quickly found backup center Adem Bona on the left wing, then Bona pitched it back to Maxey standing near the Cup logo in the tipoff circle and went to set a back screen on the Knicks' rangy defender Mikal Bridges, hoping to free Maxey when the Sixers scorer put it on the floor.
Then a dizzying sequence commenced, with the ball moving around the court like a marble in the "Mouse Trap" board game.
Maxey passed it back to Philon, who had replaced Bona on the wing; Philon pump-faked, drove middle and passed to an open Anfernee Simons on the right wing. Simons swung it to Dean Wade in the right corner. Wade drove the paint and kicked it back to Simons above the 3-point line. Simons drove right and flipped the ball behind his back to Wade, who replaced him at the top of the key. Wade swung it to the left wing to Maxey. Maxey faked a pass to Philon in the left corner and then used his dribble to attack the lane and throw down a one-handed dunk with the shot clock ticking below four seconds.
Nine passes. All five Sixers touched the ball. And the action started and ended with Maxey.
As Philadelphia continues to establish exactly what team it is going to become this season with so many new players to mesh and outside expectations to manage, the 76ers showed Friday some of the tenants they have already come to rely on:
Maxey is going to drive the offense. His 27 points led both teams, and he has scored 26 or more in all six of Philly's games.
The Sixers are going to play unselfishly. They had 26 assists on 37 made baskets with LeBron James (20 points) and VJ Edgecombe (13 points) contributing big-time late buckets after Jalen Brunson briefly gave the Knicks the lead in the fourth.
They are going to play defense, no matter who is in the lineup. Jaylen Brown, perhaps their best wing defender, was ruled out Friday because of left patellar tendinopathy. Philly still held New York to 41% shooting overall and 32% from 3.
While a few of the Sixers' early wins have come because of furious second-half efforts -- turning things around against New York and Cleveland in the third quarter and needing a 39-21 burst in the fourth against Indiana to prevail Wednesday -- this was a more complete game. And another step forward for the 5-1 Sixers. -- McMenamin
2026 Emirates NBA Cup schedule
Group Play
Oct. 30
Nov. 6
Washington Wizards at Atlanta Hawks, 7 p.m. ET
Boston Celtics at Charlotte Hornets, 7 p.m. ET
Philadelphia 76ers at Cleveland Cavaliers, 7:30 p.m. ET (Prime)
Utah Jazz at Dallas Mavericks, 8 p.m. ET
Oklahoma City Thunder at Memphis Grizzlies, 8 p.m. ET
Toronto Raptors at Milwaukee Bucks, 8 p.m. ET
Minnesota Timberwolves at New Orleans Pelicans, 8 p.m. ET
Portland Trail Blazers at Los Angeles Lakers, 10 p.m. ET (Prime)
San Antonio Spurs at Sacramento Kings, 10 p.m. ET
Nov. 13
New York Knicks at Indiana Pacers, 7 p.m. ET (Prime)
Milwaukee Bucks at Orlando Magic, 7 p.m. ET
Cleveland Cavaliers at Miami Heat, 8 p.m. ET
Atlanta Hawks at Chicago Bulls, 8 p.m. ET
Memphis Grizzlies at New Orleans Pelicans, 8 p.m. ET
Utah Jazz at Houston Rockets, 8:30 p.m. ET
Golden State Warriors at San Antonio Spurs, 9:30 p.m. ET (Prime)
Portland Trail Blazers at Sacramento Kings, 10 p.m. ET
Oklahoma City Thunder at LA Clippers, 10:30 p.m. ET
Nov. 20
Charlotte Hornets at Atlanta Hawks, 7 p.m. ET
Orlando Magic at Brooklyn Nets, 7:30 p.m. ET
Indiana Pacers at Cleveland Cavaliers, 7:30 p.m. ET
Toronto Raptors at Detroit Pistons, 7:30 p.m. ET (Prime)
Washington Wizards at Chicago Bulls, 8 p.m. ET
New Orleans Pelicans at Oklahoma City Thunder, 8 p.m. ET
Phoenix Suns at Utah Jazz, 9:30 p.m. ET
Houston Rockets at Denver Nuggets, 10 p.m. ET (Prime)
Sacramento Kings at Los Angeles Lakers, 10 p.m. ET
Nov. 24
Detroit Pistons at Orlando Magic, 7 p.m. ET
Boston Celtics at Washington Wizards, 8 p.m. ET (NBC)
Dallas Mavericks at Denver Nuggets, 10 p.m. ET (NBC)
Nov. 25
Miami Heat at Philadelphia 76ers, 5 p.m. ET (ESPN)
Chicago Bulls at Charlotte Hornets, 7 p.m. ET
Cleveland Cavaliers at New York Knicks, 7:30 p.m. ET
Minnesota Timberwolves at Oklahoma City Thunder, 7:30 p.m. ET
LA Clippers at Memphis Grizzlies, 8 p.m. ET
Brooklyn Nets at Milwaukee Bucks, 8 p.m. ET
Phoenix Suns at Houston Rockets, 8:30 p.m. ET
Sacramento Kings at Golden State Warriors, 10 p.m. ET
San Antonio Spurs at Portland Trail Blazers, 10 p.m. ET (ESPN)
Nov. 27
Miami Heat at New York Knicks, 7 p.m. ET (Prime)
Milwaukee Bucks at Detroit Pistons, 7:30 p.m. ET
Philadelphia 76ers at Indiana Pacers, 7:30 p.m. ET
Brooklyn Nets at Toronto Raptors, 7:30 p.m. ET
Atlanta Hawks at Boston Celtics, 8 p.m. ET
Memphis Grizzlies at Minnesota Timberwolves, 8:30 p.m. ET
Dallas Mavericks at Phoenix Suns, 9 p.m. ET
Los Angeles Lakers at San Antonio Spurs, 9:30 p.m. ET (Prime)
Denver Nuggets at Utah Jazz, 9:30 p.m. ET
New Orleans Pelicans at LA Clippers, 9:30 p.m. ET
Golden State Warriors at Portland Trail Blazers, 9:30 p.m. ET
Knockout rounds
Dec. 4-5: Quarterfinals
Dec. 8 and/or Dec. 9: Semifinals
Dec. 11: Championship
NBA Cup FAQ: Everything to know
What is the format?
NBA commissioner Adam Silver has had a longstanding fascination with European soccer. Establishing an in-season cup competition within the NBA schedule came from soccer leagues having both a regular-season title, won by the team with the most points over the full year, and a separate tournament (or, in some leagues, multiple tournaments) that runs concurrently with the league season.
In England, for example, there are the various divisions -- led by the Premier League -- and also the FA Cup competition. But unlike those European leagues, which play their cup competitions outside of their league schedules, the NBA Cup is built in to the regular-season slate.
The 30 NBA teams are split into six five-team groups -- three featuring Eastern Conference teams and three comprising Western Conference teams -- with each team then playing one game against the other four in its group. The winner of each group, plus the team with the best record among the non-group winners, advances to the knockout stage of the competition.
How will this impact the regular-season schedule and standings?
Typically, the NBA sends out a full 82-game schedule in mid-August. Now, the league sends out only 80 games and leaves a gap of roughly a week to fill in later, depending on how the group stage of the NBA Cup plays out.
The two teams from the East and West that lose in the quarterfinals will play their 82nd game against each other. Meanwhile, the 22 teams that fail to qualify for the knockout rounds will have their final two games scheduled -- one at home and one on the road against others eliminated in the group stage.
The teams that reach the NBA Cup final will actually play 83 games -- though the championship game won't count toward the standings or any statistical markers. The four teams that reach the semifinals will have completed their 82 games and won't need any other games added to their schedule.
Any team that makes it to the semifinals will have that game moved later in the schedule to avoid back-to-back games. The NBA made this change in an effort to avoid having empty days on the calendar while attempting to minimize back-to-backs for all teams as much as possible.
Where are the semifinals and final being played?
In a shift from previous tournaments, the quarterfinals and semifinals will be played at home sites. The Dec. 11 title game, meanwhile, will move from Las Vegas to the storied Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. NBA commissioner Adam Silver previously said the league was searching for "storied college arenas" to play host to the Cup final. (No venue has been announced for 2027.)
Why does the NBA Cup include regular-season games?
Before its launch, one of the main questions surrounding the in-season tournament was why any team would be incentivized to compete in it. The NBA ensured teams will be motivated by making every game part of the season and, as in-conference matchups, potentially important to playoff tiebreakers. If this had been set up like the cup tournaments in European soccer, there would have been nothing stopping NBA teams from opting out by sitting their top players for extra rest.
Which teams make up the groups?
To create the groups, the NBA put the 15 teams in each conference into five pots, separated by their finish last season. Pot 1 included the teams that finished in the top three in the regular-season standings, Nos. 4-6 in the standings went into Pot 2, Nos. 7-9 into Pot 3, Nos. 10-12 into Pot 4 and Nos. 13-15 into Pot 5. As a result, the following groups were drawn:
East Group A
East Group B
East Group C
West Group A
West Group B
West Group C
Does one group stand out the most from the others?
East Group B is a monster.
All five teams -- defending NBA Cup and Finals champion New York, Philadelphia, Cleveland, Miami and Indiana -- are among the favorites to win the conference in 2026-27. The group stage will also feature reunion games for LeBron James, when the 76ers face the Cavs and Heat. And after guard Tyrese Haliburton missed the entire 2025-26 season while rehabbing a torn Achilles, the Pacers will be back among the East elite and hungry to reach the title game in Indianapolis.
What do players get for winning?
In 2023, the first year the tournament was held, the players on the winning team received $500,000 each and the runners-up got $200,000. The losing players of the semifinals each got $100,000, and those ousted in the quarterfinals got $50,000. Now, in each subsequent year, the prizes will be slightly higher, as a result of negotiated raises year over year to keep pace with increases in the salary cap and basketball-related income as part of the most recent collective bargaining agreement between the NBA and the National Basketball Players Association.
Will anyone earn individual honors for their play in NBA Cup games?
There will be an MVP award, as well as an all-tournament team.
Will this have any impact on the playoffs?
Not beyond the games counting in the regular-season standings (and toward tiebreakers). The only playoff impact comes from the wins and losses accrued throughout the tournament. Though there was debate among league insiders about guaranteeing a playoff berth for winning the tournament, ultimately that idea (or any other to further incentivize teams) was not enacted.
Why is it called the Emirates NBA Cup?
The league struck a sponsorship deal with Emirates, the Dubai-based airline, to sponsor the tournament after its initial run. The NBA said last year that it went with the most basic titles for both the tournament and its trophy -- the "in-season tournament" and "NBA Cup" -- as a way to introduce the concept to fans. However, using such nondescript names had another clear advantage: It gave the league a blank slate in case it sold the naming rights for the tournament and cup to a sponsor and avoided the complications that could arise by naming them after someone (for example, late NBA commissioner David Stern, one possibility that had been floated before the tournament was officially unveiled).
Previous NBA Cup champions
2025
New York Knicks defeat San Antonio Spurs, 124-113
Tournament MVP: Jalen Brunson, Knicks
2024
Tournament MVP: Giannis Antetokounmpo, Bucks
2023
Los Angeles Lakers defeat Indiana Pacers, 123-109
Tournament MVP: LeBron James, Lakers